Have you seen the commercials British Petroleum will still occasionally run that purports their efforts to be environmentally friendly? Yep, they were/are a friend to the environment, ready to invest all that money in alternative energy, ready to go Beyond Petroleum

They even had a tag-line, “BP: It’s a start.”

Yeah…but it was of course (as are all things BP) about money:

“Investors choose whose stock to buy; consumers choose whose gas they buy; and governments choose who gets their contracts,” said Scott Dean, a spokesman for BP, which alternates “Beyond Petroleum” and “It’s a Start” as its tag lines.”

And then that whole oil spill thing happened…and any pretense to environmental concern sunk to the bottom of the Gulf. The best BP could do then is to clean it up, fix the mess, and who better to help them in cleaning up the worst oil spill in US history but the men and women who knew the Gulf like the back of their hand, the men and women who were now out of work because of the spill, who already had boats, who were there, just waiting to help?

And even better, British Petroleum could get a whole lot of them to put in the time, breathe in the fumes and do it all for free.

Wait, what?

Oh yeah…work for no wages for British Petroleum, the environmental company with a heart.

“People who participated in BP’s Vessels of Opportunity program can now pursue claims for damage to their boats and possibly other grievances, even if they settled claims for economic losses from the oil spill with the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, according to a letter from BP. But, BP…also says it reserves the right to deduct any wages that boat owners earned in the Vessels of Opportunity program from any ultimate settlements.”

So, according to British Petroleum, if you worked to help clean up the oil and received any damage to your boat, or if you have any other grievances stemming from the work you did to help clean up the Gulf, you can pursue damage claims against BP even if the GCCF gave you money…

Why?

Because BP is very generous.

Oh, but if British Petroleum does decide to settle with you for any damage to your boats and/or any other grievance, BP reserves the right to deduct any money you might have been paid while you were working for BP, you know, to clean up BP’s mess in the Gulf.

Why?

Because BP is all about the money, period…and being green, and because Feinberg is paying people too much:

“The GCCF has overcompensated claimants who participated in the VoO (Vessels of Opportunity) program,” the Sept. 21 letter from BP attorney Dan Cantor to GCCF deputy administrator Jackie Zins reads. “BP reserves…the right to account…for VoO compensation that should have been but was not offset from GCCF awards.”

Apparently, British Petroleum also reserves the right to be utter corporate bastards, place profits over people, and place ineffective self-regulation over the safety and health of those who live in the Gulf Coast, and their environment at large, but hey…

It’s a start.

Read the article:

Participants in Vessels of Opportunity program can pursue damage claims, BP says

Have a nice day.